Profile of the programme

This Degree Course is designed to provide graduates with good basic and applied knowledge of the field of activities related to gastronomy, with the aim of producing qualified operators for this economic and cultural sector in rapid expansion.

Key learning outcomes

Graduates from the degree course must: - Possess objective and systematic knowledge of the environmental, chemical-physical, biological, microbiological and process factors involved in phenomena of degradation, fermentation, the physical, chemical and enzymatic transformation of raw materials and foods as well as their consequences on conservability, nutritional and anti-nutritional properties, rheological and sensory characteristics; - Be able to manage and optimize production processes and identify technological solutions or modifications of procedures that may become necessary to comply with European or specific commercial regulations on safety, in concordance with the international norms; - Be able to: a) evaluate the impact on the consumer, in terms of sensory and functional properties, nutritional quality, safety, the processes to transform foods and the various types of cooking; b) modulate, as a consequence, processes and formulations, wherever it becomes necessary to substitute or reduce consolidated traditional ingredients (e.g. nitrites in processed meat products); - Be able to correlate sensory data with the composition of foods and the transformations due to cooking and/or processing methods; - Be able to recognize and scientifically assess the individual and interactive significance of the variables that combine to create the concept of "territory" as regards typical products in order to modulate and manage these in the best way, also in territorial, social, productive, technological and economic contexts in continual evolution; - Be able to identify packaging/atmospheric systems suitable for new commercial demands, guaranteeing where possible the exploitation of those peculiar characteristics that contribute to the typicality of individual products, also in terms of image; - Understand the rooting of food culture in the literary and pictorial tradition as well as in today's mass media; - Know in the long term the economic processes linked to the various food sectors with reference to the dynamics of supply and demand; - Possess adequate skills and tools for communication (scientific explanations, journalistic activity) also at a professional level and the management of information in the gastronomic and general food sectors; - Know EU policies on food quality and the safeguarding of consumers.

Final examination, if any

Upon completion of the course the final exam must testify to the cultural growth of the student in their field of study. To this end, the final exam consists of a progress report on an advanced and/or innovative subject in a discipline from the course, chosen under the supervision of a professor on the course. The report is discussed in front of a Commission, usually composed of professors from different disciplines. The discussion must make clear in particular the capacity gained by the student to select and use independently and critically the methodologies of analysis acquired during the training on the one hand, and the flexibility to use other interdisciplinary frames of reference on the other.